The Storm
by mmhope22
Summary: Abandoned as an infant, Wynter Monroe has just started to a build a life for herself after a very difficult and troubled past. Unfortunately for her, there is something that she has carried with her since birth that threatens to destroy the simple existence that she craves and has made her a very large target for many of the universes' most heinous villains.
1. Chapter 1

The young prince had failed, not only as a ruler but as a brother and as a son. His capacity for mischief and scheming had always been unmatched, even as a boy, but this time in spite of his meticulous planning, he found himself facing much more than the reprimand of the Allfather. The dark Asgardian had undoubtedly gone above and beyond anything that he had ever attempted before and certainly, he had crossed the threshold between light-hearted prank and something much more malicious; a mere rebuke from the Allfather could not and would not be enough to dismiss what he had done...

And Loki could not fathom the idea of standing before that wretched man again – the thought of allowing the Old Git to scold and belittle him, even one more time, set his blood ablaze. It surely would not end with the Allfather, either. No...of course Sif, the Warriors Three, and the tremendous oaf that was his brother would all have something to say...

"_Thor," _The god corrected himself.

Thor Odinson. Favored son of the Allfather and of Asgard...

Not _his_ family; not _his_ home.

The god cried out in rage as he relived in his mind what had transpired, furious that he had been so blinded that he did not even suspect that those who had raised him were liars. They had so easily deceived him – the trickster. Despicable.

So, when it was that his brief reign was brought to it's violent and abrupt end and Loki was left dangling helplessly from the shattered remains of the Rainbow Bridge, he allowed himself to fall. He had hoped to lose his life in the cold void, but yet again the Lie-Smith had failed...

Although what he **did** find out there in the depths of the Black Sea of the Universe was perhaps equally as cruel as the fate that he had sought...

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><p><em>Thick droplets of rain pounded relentlessly atop of the weathered red station wagon as it sat, completely dark and nestled against the curb. Other vehicles zoomed past, either too busy to notice or rightly assuming that it was none of their business. Wynter was not sure when the owner would come back or why they had abandoned their car at the side of the road – all she knew is that she could not spend another night in the freezing rain. <em>

_With the help of a coat hanger and a few pointers an old acquaintance had given her months before, the petite brunette had easily unlocked the passenger side door. Warily, she climbed into the back seat and curled her frail body into a somewhat comfortable position, pressing her eyes shut as she allowed the heavy sounds of rain to lull her to sleep. It would not always be like this. It __**could not**__ always be like this. At least that's what she liked to tell herself. _

_She was given one hour. Just one short hour before a loud tapping at the window abruptly drew her from her slumber and she found her eyes immediately assaulted by a bright light. Her hands turned icy as her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest. Through the window she was able to make out the silhouette of a man. Someone had found her and regardless who it was, she knew it was not going to be favorable for her. _

_She watched the figure circle the car before he came to stand just outside of her door once more, motioning for her to roll down the window. Her eyes darted, searching desperately for a hand-crank, but much to her dismay, it appeared that that particular vehicle was equipped with automatic windows. Taking in a quivering breath, Wynter cautiously pushed the door open just a crack._

"_Miss, stay in the vehicle," A deep, assertive voice instructed the girl. _

"_Yes, absolutely," She responded softly._

"_And I'm going to need to see your license and registration." _

_Swallowing thickly, she tried to come up with a believable excuse for not being able to produce either of those things, but panic had muddled her thoughts. _

"_I'm sorry, Officer. I...I don't have them." _

_The police man let out an annoyed grunt._

"_Your name, miss?"_

"_It's Wynter, sir. Wynter Monroe." _

"_Alright, miss Monroe. Sit tight, I'll be right back." _

_The terrified girl watched intently as the officer retreated to his vehicle, hoping with all of her might that perhaps somebody would speed by or that something awful would come over his radio to pull him away, but she knew that she would never be that fortunate. Her chest grew tight as she struggled to steady her breathing, and in that moment she foolishly decided that the best course of action would be to try to make a run for it. As bad as things had turned out for her since she had grown into adulthood, she still maintained that she would rather be on the streets than in a jail cell. _

_Forcing herself to take one last, deep breath, Wynter climbed from the car and catapulted herself forward with all of the strength that she had. _

"_Hey! Freeze! Stop where you are!" She heard the man's thunderous voice shout. _

_The young woman ignored his calls and continued to push herself just as fast as her legs could carry her before she was jerked to a sudden halt by a strong, thick hand wrapped painfully around her arm. Evidently, she hadn't been fast enough._

_Whirling Wynter around to face him, the man sneered._

"_That was __**really**__ fucking stupid of you, little girl."_

_With great effort, she managed to wrench her thin wrist from his vice-like grasp and quickly put a fair amount of distance between her body and his towering form. _

"_Stay away from me," She warned shakily as she stepped backwards._

_Ignoring her words, the man withdrew his weapon and advanced on her, sending a whole new wave of terror through the already petrified woman. With a mere flick of her dainty wrist, which had already begun to bruise from his hold, she watched as the man was tossed thirty feet like a rag doll. She had only meant to put distance between the two of them; at worst, to incapacitate him, but the sickening sound of bones snapping and the distinct lack of the rise and fall of his chest told her she had done much more than that. _

_Mortified, Wynter did the only thing that made any sense to her in the chaotic state of her mind. _

_She ran. _

* * *

><p><em>Six Months Later...<em>

* * *

><p>Pay rent on time, keep the noise level to a minimum, and don't trash the place; these all seemed to be very basic rules for tenancy and yet Wynter's soon-to-be landlady apparently felt the need to keep reminding her over and over again. She couldn't be sure whether this was because the aged woman had had issues with previous occupants or that it was because she simply did not like young people, but whatever the case, the youth did her utmost to remain polite and to not take the elder's distrust too personally. Wynter listened to the frail woman as she led her through the small, single story home while she explained to her the terms of the lease for the third time in twenty minutes, nodding and smiling as they went.<p>

The old woman's voice faded into the background, however, as the young girl allowed her eyes to feast upon her new home. She admired the faux cobblestone flooring in the kitchen and the granite topped island that separated it from the living room area as the warm glow of the overhead light created a very cozy, at-home-like feel for Wynter. Not that she'd really know about any of that, but she could imagine.

"Now, this is your copy of the lease agreement. I just need you to sign here, if you will," A gravelly voice called from over the small woman's shoulder, pulling Wynter from her thoughts.

The petite brunette was temporarily overwhelmed with gratitude and let out an audible sigh of relief as an enormous grin spread across her delicate features.

"Yes, of course," She answered softly before carefully taking the papers from the woman's trembling hands and signing her name on the dotted line that had been indicated with an "X", "Thank you, Mrs. Petrowski. I really appreciate it."

The older lady grumbled something that the girl could not quite distinguish as she returned the document to her uneven grip and watched as she ambled over to the front door, relying heavily on her weathered, wooden cane as she went.

"Just remember, your rent is due on the **first** of the month, _every_ month. Not a day late, you understand? And this is a quite, family neighborhood so if you try having any parties or pulling any funny business, I'm sure I'll hear about it...and I better not hear _anything_, you got it, young lady?"

"Yes, ma'am, I understand. You have nothing to worry about, I promise," Wynter reassured the elder with as much warmth as she could muster considering that she was fairly sure she had already been somewhat threatened by her landlady.

Again, the woman grumbled something inaudible as Wynter pulled the door open for her, giving her a smile and a small wave as she watched her disappear down the driveway until at long last she was out of sight.

With a heavy sigh, Wynter turn and allowed her back to rest against the solid frame of the door as her fingers played mindlessly at the locket that hung around her neck. She had come a long way and for that she was quite proud. Unfortunately for her, she had no idea of the shit storm that was headed her way...

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><p><strong>AN**:** Hello and thank you for reading! I am sure that this first Chapter was not the most riveting thing in the world, but for these first couple of updates my goal is to try to help you to get to know our girl, Wynter. I don't have a whole lot of experience writing and I apologize for any typos and junk, but I promise to work on it and to get better. There's not much to really say for this first chapter except that it jumps from the past to what would be the present with Wynter getting her new place and that it tells us where in the Thor Plotline we're at (Obviously, we're starting up after the events of the first Thor movie) We'll get some more details as to where exactly she is and what has happened to her in the next few updates. I hope you enjoyed this regardless and that you'll come back. And if you did like it I would appreciate it very much if you could_ Leave a Review_! Thanks again!**


	2. Chapter 2

"_Wynter, look at me! Listen to my voice – **my** **voice** and nothing else, okay? Do you hear me?!" _

_Her cold, shaking hands clutched at the messy brown hair atop her skull as she eagerly bobbed her head. Her entire life had been one struggle followed by another, followed by another, but this...this was something else entirely. She had come to accept that sometimes, in order to get by in life, she would have to bend the rules - break them even, if times were particularly hard - but **never** had she anticipated that she would kill a man. _

"_Listen, you need to calm down -" _

"_Calm down?!" She shrieked as a fiery burst of rage surged through her. _

_How could he ask that of her? How **dare** he?!_

_A large chunk of splintered wood crashed noisily to the floor between the two friends, causing the man to take a small step backwards. _

"_Wynter, please," He spoke softly, raising his hands as if to surrender,"I know it's a lot to ask of you right now, it's just... I know you and I know that you wouldn't intentionally hurt anybody. Ever. But if you don't get a hold of yourself right now, there's a whole lot of kids under this roof who **are** going to get hurt. Or worse. So please, listen to me...let me help you." _

_Wynter locked eyes with him and felt a wave of comfort wash over her. She could feel just how strongly he felt for her and for all of the people under his care, most of whom were children, and that, as it had been countless times before, was enough to calm the storm within her. Suddenly, everything became still and the rumbling that she had failed to notice was even there had come to a halt; her heart sank a little further, realizing that she had again put others in danger because she couldn't keep her emotions in check. _

"_Rowan," She croaked, tears stinging at her eyes,"What do I do?"_

_Closing the distance between them, the man wrapped his arms around the younger woman and held her to his chest as she began to sob. _

"_Shh, it's alright," He whispered into her wet, tangled up hair._

"_No, it's not."_

"_Well...you're right. It's not. But it **will** **be** – I promise."_

"_How can you possibly promise that?" The girl questioned as she struggled to take in air through her cries. _

"_I think I know someone who may be able to help you out, and he owes me a few favors..."_

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><p><em>Wynter allowed her eyes to dance across the landscape as it zoomed by outside of the window of Rowan's forest green Jeep. They had been on the road for nearly twelve hours and for the most part, there had been nothing but fields with some trees dotted along the horizon to hold the girls interest. Rowan was quite the talker in most situations, but it had always been that once he got himself behind the wheel, there was no conversation to be had with him. He liked to be one-hundred percent focused while driving, which was something that Wynter could appreciate, though she found herself longing for the radio after a while. <em>

_At long last, buildings began to fill the skyline and the girl let out a small sigh of relief knowing that she wouldn't have to wait too much longer to not only start her new life, but to stretch her legs after such a lengthy road trip. _

_Shortly after the city had come into view, Wynter watched as Rowan dug deep into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small, black cell phone. Quickly, he punched in the numbers, held the device up to his ear, and waited. _

"_Yes, hello," He greeted whomever picked up on the other end, "This is Rowan Carbonell, I'm calling to speak with Mister Anthony Stark."_

_There was a short pause while the person responded._

"_Yes, I know Mister Stark is a very busy man, miss, but I am sure that he can pencil in a second to take a phone call for a family member."_

_Another brief moment of silence fell before Rowan spoke again._

"_That would be fantastic, thank you...Yes, I'll hold." _

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><p>Although her limbs were heavy with fatigue, Wynter managed to drag her body up the solid staircase, enjoying the feel of the cool, smooth wood beneath her feet as she went. She did not have much of anything to move in to her new place – in fact, everything that she had owned in the whole world fit comfortably into a single back pack – though Rowan had been kind enough to supply her with some of the extra pillows and blankets that he had at his disposal. She took the bedding that he had given her and used it to create a make-shift bed on the floor of what she would one day turn into her bed room – the first one that Wynter would ever have to herself.<p>

Allowing her body to fall into the pile of soft fabrics and pillows, the young woman smiled as she pressed her eyes closed. There she was – in her own home about to fall asleep in her own bedroom – it seemed too good to be true. She had come very close to giving up hope that it could ever happen for her and yet it had. Out of something so horrific, she started to feel that perhaps her life was beginning to head in the right direction.

Softly, she wrapped her dainty fingers around the smooth, silver moon-shaped locket as she began to drift off into sleep. It was not to be, however, as a thunderous noise from outside of her home jolted her awake. Wynter bolted upright and scrambled towards the window in order to catch a glimpse of the cause of the Earth-shattering sound, but found nothing particularly out of the ordinary in the dark city around her...

Except for maybe a strange glow in the sky...

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><p><strong>AN: Hey, guys! Sorry for the long wait but here we have chapter two! As I said before, these first few chapters are going to be spent largely getting to know Wynter and where she's coming from, so all of the sections that are written in italics are, clearly, things that have already happened and are in the past and stuff. I feel like that is a better way to show you what is going on with her and what has happened to her rather than to just try to fit it in somewhere else. **

**Not too much to say about this chapter other than the fact that we meet one of Wynter's friends, Rowan Carbonell. He is a character that I have created and for those of you who have read some of the comics regarding Iron Man and stuff, you may have noted that Rowan shares the same last name as Maria Stark before she married Howard. Rowan, in this story, is Tony Starks cousin and as this chapter has suggested (I believe) that has helped her to get out of her mess and to where she's at right now in the story. Much more to come on that, but I just wanted to clarify that for anyone who may not have gotten it. **

**Anyway, I apologize again for the long wait and for any typos and errors that I may have missed while writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the update and as always**

_**PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!**_


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